He is one of the top young basketball coaches in the Coastal Empire, and Bakari Bryant wore a satisfied smile Tuesday night after his Jenkins boys team delivered a signature victory over Effingham County.

The host Warriors moved into a tie for first place with Effingham County in Region 3-AAAAA by handing the Rebels their first region setback this season in a 53-49 victory.

Jenkins improved to 11-7 overall and 8-1 in region play. Effingham County, which entered the week ranked No. 2 among Class AAAAA teams in Georgia by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, fell to 15-4 and 8-1.

Effingham had dominated the visiting Warriors in a 70-46 win on Dec. 11.

“This was our biggest win yet,” said Bryant, the former Savannah High standout and assistant coach, in his second year leading the Warriors. “Our motto all season has been IGYB or I got your back, and the kids lived up to it tonight. It was a total team effort.”

The action was fast and furious from the opening tip off until the final whistle.

Jenkins led 18-5 after the first quarter, but Rebel guard Jay Wright played an outstanding first half scoring 14 of his 16 points as Effingham rallied to close the deficit to 26-24 at intermission.

Ryan Wilkins and DeAundray Rhett had seven points each for the Rebels.

Senior forward Paris Baker sparked the Warriors early with a basket down low followed with an impressive putback. He had eight of his 12 points in the first half.

He was also assigned to cover Effingham County star Jakeenan Gant, who entered the game averaging more than 18 points a game.

Baker did a solid job, holding Gant scoreless for the first half.

Gant found his range in the second half and finished with 12 points.

“We packed it in down low with a 2-3 zone after we struggled in the first game against them using the man-to-man,” said Bryant, 31. “We tried to stay on (Rebel guard) Ryan (Wilkins) on the outside and then make everyone else beat us. We made them shoot from the outside and we rebounded well. That gave us the advantage tonight.”

Gant, a 6-foot-8 small forward with offers from a host of schools including Georgia, Georgia Tech and Florida State, started off the second half by draining a 15-footer with his first basket of the night to tie the game at 26.

But the Warriors never blinked.

Malik Benlevi had a huge second half for the Warriors, scoring 11 of his team-high 13 points at the most critical points in the game.

“That was high intensity out there, my heart was racing,” the 6-foot-4 sophomore said. “They had a height advantage on us and they have some good guards. But we played team ball. This is our biggest win.”

Junior guard Romaine Gray and sophomore Brenden Carter had eight points each for the Warriors and Jamelle Lanier added seven.

With 6:46 left in the game, Gant made an athletic move to the basket for a wrap-around to close the deficit to 40-38.

But Jenkins responded when Eric Johnson fed Lanier a nice pass leading to a fast-break layup.

Seconds later, Benlevi had his shot blocked from behind on a breakaway by Wilkins. But Benlevi was unfazed, coming back with a strong drive to the basket followed by a pull-up 3-pointer on the Warriors’ next possession to increase the lead to 47-40.

The win was the third in a row for the Warriors, who have won six of their last seven games.

“We’ve been through the fire this year,” Gray said. “But the main thing tonight was defense, defense, defense. Our play on defense is what got the offense going. Coach is always telling us how good we can be, now we are starting to believe in each other.”

Bryant had his mentor, Savannah High coach Tim Jordan, in the stands supporting the Warriors.

And Bryant showed off some of the things he learned from Jordan, moving he ball around in a four-corner offense to take time off the clock, substituting his players liberally and stressing an in-your-face style of defense.

“You want to find your own identity, but I learned a system from Coach Jordan and he has been very successful,” Bryant said. “I’m going to use that style and add a little twist of my own.”